Friday, December 31, 2010

"Therobotsare coming. The second decade of the 21st century will see the rise of a mechanised army that will revolutionise private and public life just as radically as the internet and social media have shaken up the past 10 years."

Marina Gorbis, futurologist and head of Californian thinktank The Institute for the Future.

The innovation is in our life everyday! And that is splendid! Innovation and creativity are in music too! Perhaps the most innovative art crossing the centuries. From classical, to pop-rock, jazz, alternative or electronic. There are wonderful composers, musicians, innovative projects.

Now we have music using the latest Techonologies! Arcade Fire and Google maps, Gorillaz composing on iPad. So, we can say, dawn of the age of the Tech music!

"Music is the poetry of the air", said Jean Paul Richter. Read some music quotes and choose the perfect one to begin the New Year!

Over in North America, the campaign trail to stop texting and driving amongst young people is hotting up. The issue has become a major cause for concern in the United States and beyond and has been given national attention by ministers and governments in recent years.

AT&T is taking the lead on texting-and-driving prevention with this 11-minute documentary on the topic, intended to reach consumers before New Year’s Eve.

In addition to the pledge to stop texting behind the wheel, the campaign has equipped young people with a 'Activation Kit' which inlcudes statistics, research, tips and infographics such as the one below.

The document, called The Last Text, features stories about people whose lives were adversely affected by texting behind the wheel, including the parents of Mariah West, who died after texting “Where u at?” to a friend.

AT&T's Txtng & Drivng Campaign Urges Consumers That It Can Wait. This video featuring families affected by texting while behind the wheel is being distributed to educators, government officials, safety organizations and public as part of a educational awareness campaign.

AT&T was distributing the film to schools, safety organizations and government agencies and on its YouTube channel. The doc is part of AT&T’s It Can Wait TV, print and online campaign, which the company introduced in March.

Part of that campaign includes a Facebook app where friends can take a pledge not to text and drive.

Tuesday, December 28, 2010

If you're a fan of the Gorillaz, led by the English musician Damon Albarn, don't forget to check online for an additional present this Christmas.

The band has always been known for seeking out ways to set themselves apart– which leads us to the digital Christmas gift of the albumThe Fall, now available to listen to onlineon the band's site.

And by the way, they have record the album The Fall entirely on sn Ipad using just a few other instruments.A few traditional instruments were used too, each of which were recorded solely by an iPad, incuding a guitar, Melodica, Microkorg, Moog Voyager, Korg Monotron, Korg Vocoder, Omnichord, piano and ukulele.

"I've made it on an iPad – I hope I'll be making the first record on aniPad," he said. "I fell in love with my iPad as soon as I got it, so I've made a completely different kind of record."

Using an iPad instead of a mixing board and a more capable computer, along with other amenities found in high-end recording studios, might be a bit unorthodox, but the Gorillaz have never been an ordinary band.

On Christmas Eve theGorillaz gave the 15-song album away to members of its Sub-Division fan club.

For those who aren't paid club members, the record can be heardby-way-of streaming onlineand the band has promised to bring it to record stores early next year.

Albarn, who created the Gorillaz with comic book artist Jamie Hewlett, is the only member of the band to have appeared on each of the group's albums. Other band members change frequently depending on the album or live concert.

Many of the Gorillaz performances feature musicians playing behind or near a screen on which animated videos, based on designs by Hewlett, of virtual band members are shown to the audience.

Education:Well, Damon Albarn felt in love with his iPad! Who doesn't ! People love iPad! Not only the musicians... educators and students as well. So, let's start using iPad in Music curriculum. Students will love compose new music in the classroom using this fantastic device.Level: Secondary education; Vocational educationCurriculum : Arts & Multimedia ; Music.

Enjoy your holiday time! And then, after holiday, began to start a good music project in curriculum.

Thursday, December 23, 2010

“Let us live our daily lives in solidarity with those less fortunate than us – the poor, the sick and elderly, those enduring abuse, discrimination or violations of their rights – and thereby build a better world for all”.

"We called it SenseWall because we wanted to create a platform that would have more senses than solely touch. So we added 2 cameras above the display for computer vision applications, a microphone for sound input, speakers for sound output and an RFID reader."

The project has been developed for three years by three students coordinated by Prof. Mario Zenha. Some results: TOUCHBLOOM – a “multi touch” transportable, created for Microsoft Portugal that used it on Windows 7 demonstration, and PUDDLE OF LIFE, an interactive game that it is at theScience Museumof Universidade de Coimbra.

"Puddle of Life" is an educational multi-touch installation that was designed for Coimbra's Science Museum (Darwin exhibit), demonstrating the theory of natural selection, as part of Darwin's 200th anniversary.

The installation is composed of a round multi-touch table whose surface represents a virtual environment where 4 species of creatures live in. Each of these little creatures have different physical characteristics visually expressed by it's quantity and/or size: Vision, Locomotion and Fur. Read more

"We believe highly motivated people can produce better work and be happier at the same time. By making workflows simpler and technology easier to use we hope to increase productivity and enable everyone to achieve their goals in a more pleasant and fruitful way. This is the foundation that supports every new product idea we have."

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Recent Publications

Souto, G. (2013) Time for Action: New Challenges in Secondary Education. At Conference Proceedings, International Conference The Future of Education, Florence, Italy.

Souto, G. (2013) Visionary Learning for 2030: Secondary Education. In Booklet online "Vision on Open Education 2030 Part 2: School Education", European Commission and The Institute for Prospective Technological Studies (IPTS).

TEDxKids Brussels 2011

Gina Souto was guest tweeting from TEDxKids in Brussels on June 1st."48 kids, all of them born in 2000, are going get their hands dirty, soldering, tinkering, hacking and composing. A series of hands-on workshops will introduce the kids to a range of skills and methods.

At the same time 400 adults will be treated to an all day program of leading thinkers, experts and makers."

The twitter address is @TEDxKidsEU and there was a fantastic live stream from the event.